Aspirin and Ibuprofen Can Be A Deadly Mix

April 2007

According to a new study, heart patients who take aspirin and also treat their arthritis with ibuprofen are nine times more likely to suffer a heart attack. People taking both of these medications should be very careful when combining the two.

The reason aspirin and ibuprofen are a dangerous mix is the painkiller inhibits the blood-thinning effects of aspirin that is supposed to benefit those patients at a high risk of heart disease or a heart attack. Ibuprofen has an extremely greater risk of major cardiovascular events including heart attacks than naproxen and other cox-2 inhibitors.

The study included 18,523 patients over the age of 50 with osteoarthritis. This is the first trial to ever show a risk between ibuprofen and aspirin. Doctors are advised not to treat high-risk heart patients with ibuprofen for pain while taking aspirin.